Button-hook.



F. c. ST'REVY & E. 0. MILLER.

BUTTON HOOK.

APPLICATIQN FILED FEB. 6. 1918.

1,287,182.,, 7 Patented Dec.10,1918.

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v STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED o. STREVY AND EMORY n. MILLER, on PENAWAWA, WASHINGTON.

BUTTON-HOOK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ec. 10, 1918.

Application filed February 6, 1918. Serial No. 215,655

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRED G. S'rnnvr and EMORY D.v MILLER, citizens of the United States, residing at Penawawa, in the county of Whitman and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Button-Hooks, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to new and useful improvements in button hooks, and more particularly to the type which may be collapsed to occupy-half the amount of space which they originally require, to facilitate the hook being carried by a portion of the wearers apparel and will be practically invisible.

An important object of our invention is toprovide a device consisting of two parts which can not become detached from one another, and for the reason of its small number of parts may be manufactured and placed upon the market at a minimum cost and at the same time be strong, durable and efficient in practice.

Another object of our invention is to provide a device having its parts so constructed that when'the hook is brought to its eX- tended position, the same will be securely clamped or wedged to its co-acting member.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a device having both of its parts which comprise the device made substantially flat and rectangular in cross-section whereby the hook is prevented from turning in its co-acting member or casing.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of the description and wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary View of a shoe upper with our invention applied to the inside thereof, 7

Fig. 2 is a rear view of our invention, parts thereof being broken away to show the shape of the hook shank, and

Fig. 3 is a side View of the invention with parts of the casing being broken away.

In the drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of our invention the numeral 1 designates broadly, a casing which is formed from a piece of material by bending its longitudinal marginal edges 2 inwardly of each other until they are spaced apart to form a longitudinallv extending slot 8 intermediate the sides 4: of the casing. Before bending the piece of material, it is cut so that when it is folded as set forth, a casing is provided which is open at its top 5 and bottom 6, and its sides 4 converge from its bottom to-its top. This casing is also substantiallv flat and rectangular in 'cross section. V The back? of the casing is reduced at its top and is bent rearwardly then downwardly to form a suspension hook 8, by which the'casin'g is supported when the hook is not in use.

- A button hook 9 of the usual type is provided with a tapered fiat shank 10, said shank being arran ed to slide in the casing 1. The longitudinal edges of this shank converge-from its bottomll to its top. The bottom of the shank is wider than the opening in the top of the casing, therefore the shank is limited in its upward movement, and is accordingly prevented from sliding out of the casing at this end. The hook 9 is also wider from its free end to its shank 10, than the openin in the top of the casing. This construction restricts the downward movement of the button hook since the under side of the arch of the hook 9 will engage with the top edge of the casing. The shank is of substantially the same length as the casing thereby facilitating the shank to be wholly received in the casing when the hook is not in use, and forms a compact arrangement when the same is positioned to be carried from place to place.

This compact buttoner is so constructed that it may be readily carried by positioning the casing 1 inside of the shoe upper 12 between the ankle bone of the wearer and the rear of the shoe, and supporting the buttoner by means ofthe suspension hook 8 overlapping the top edge of the shoe. Since the main part of the buttoner is positioned between the foot of the wearer and the inside of the shoe it will be seen that the only visible part of the buttoner will be the free end of the suspension hook 8.

To use the device it is simply necessary to remove the buttoner from the shoe and pull the hook 9 outwardly of the casing until this movement is restricted by the bottom 11 of the shank 10 engaging the inside of the top of the casing. It will be seen that by the shape of the casing and the shank, that the shank of the button hook will be wedged and securely held'in the top of the casing 1. The button hook may then be used in the usual manner.

To collapse the device the hook 9 is passed downwardly toward the casing until the under side of the arched portion of the hook 9 engages the top edges of the casing. As stated before,' further downward movement is restricted by the hooks engagement with the casing. Since the shank of the button hook is of substantially the'same length as the casing it will be evident that the only visible part of the button hook will be a portion of the arched portion of this hook.

It is tobe understood that the form of our invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that variouschanges in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjo'ined claims.

Having described our invention we claim:

1. A button hook comprising a wedge shaped casing, a hook slidably mounted in said casing, said hook having a wedge shaped shank adapted to operate in said casing and friotionally engage said casing when the hook is projected from the casing.

said casing, and said hook having a wedge shaped shank of substantially the same length as that of the casing whereby only a small portion of the hook is exposed when the shank is positioned inside'of the casing.

In testimony whereof we afiiX our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

FRED C. STREVY. EMORY D. MILLER.

Witnesses: V

OSWALD APPEL, A. R. WATZKY.

Copies of this patentmay be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

